Proposed landfill expansion in S Hadley

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) - A proposed landfill expansion in South Hadley has many residents concerned. 

Several South Hadley residents have formed a group they call SHAME; South Hadley Against More Expansion.  The majority of these group members live on Lyman Terrace located right behind the landfill. 

Several of the group members told 22News expanding this landfill into their backyard is a health hazard and will destroy wetland that's designated to be conserved. The proposal is asking for 12 to 13 acres of the Bynan Conservation Area.  It's an area that's roughly 160 acres and was bought by the town in 1978 through a self help grant. 

“The self-help grant stipulates that once the landfill closes it is to become conservation and recreation well that never happened in 1996, they reopened the landfill,” said Christine Archambault of the landfill that has been operated by Interstate Waste Services since it reopened in 2003.  

Tasha Bara said, “He's out in the yard playing and breathing in this air, you know, he's only 5 years old he tells me mom it stinks. My concern is he's afraid of the gunshot noises he thinks people are hunting near the house.”

Residents told 22News the smell of the methane gas brings them all indoors.  Bara grew up on Lyman Terrace and says she believes the expansion will create more pollution.  SHAME's objective is to stop the proposal from becoming a reality.  The group told 22News they want the town to focus on reducing waste, instead of creating more. 

South Hadley Department of Public Works Director Jim Reidy told 22News they are in a race against the clock as they only have two years until the dump is at its capacity.  Reidy added that 101 acres, out of the 160, are set aside for conservation, which leaves 21 acres up for grabs.  Reidy says the expansion is still in its preliminary stage, but the town will move forward in getting the permits necessary for the approval of the expansion.